🌡 Air Conditioning FAQ
In the Phoenix area, we always say: your air filter works harder than you think. Between monsoon dust storms, construction debris, and high summer usage, most East Valley homes should change their 1″ filters every 30–60 days.
If you’ve got pets, allergies, or live near open desert in places like Queen Creek or Apache Junction, monthly is ideal. A clogged filter can choke airflow, reduce efficiency, and even damage your system over time.
Pro tip: set a reminder on your phone—it’s a small task that protects your big investment.
We hear this one all the time from homeowners in Scottsdale, Tempe, and throughout Phoenix: “My AC’s on, but my house still feels hot.” Sound familiar?
Sometimes it’s a simple fix—like a dirty filter or a blocked outdoor unit. But more often, it points to bigger issues like undersized equipment, poor duct design, or heat load problems.
In Arizona, systems are often pushed beyond their limits when temps hit 110°+. At Magic Touch, we often start with a full load calculation and airflow test to pinpoint the root cause—not just treat the symptoms.
In the Valley of the Sun, twice a year is the gold standard. Once in the spring before triple digits arrive, and once in the fall if your system also handles heating (like a heat pump).
We serve homeowners all over Mesa, Chandler, Gilbert, and Ahwatukee with seasonal tune-ups that include coil cleaning, refrigerant checks, airflow testing, and more.
Phoenix’s extreme weather means your AC doesn’t get a break, and skipping maintenance is like driving cross-country without checking your oil. Regular service extends the life of your system and can help you avoid emergency repairs when it’s 115° outside.
If you’re building, remodeling, or replacing your HVAC system in Phoenix, don’t rely on “square footage estimates” or builder guesses. Your neighbor in Gilbert might need a completely different system than you in North Mesa, even with the same floor plan.
That’s because sun exposure, insulation, ductwork design, and even ceiling height all affect load calculations.
At Magic Touch Mechanical, we perform Manual J heat load calculations for every AC installation—no ballpark guesses here. This ensures you get the right size unit for optimal comfort, efficiency, and longevity.
In most East Valley homes, central air conditioning systems last about 10 to 15 years, assuming they’re properly maintained.
The desert climate is tough on equipment—intense heat, dusty conditions, and long run-times all shorten lifespan. That said, we’ve seen well-installed and cared-for systems in Mesa and Chandler make it past 20 years.
It all comes down to maintenance, proper sizing, and professional installation. A unit installed incorrectly or allowed to run dirty and neglected may need replacing in half that time.
The best way to stretch its life? Keep it clean, serviced, and sized right from the start.
🔥 Heat Pump & Gas Furnace FAQ
A heat pump is basically an air conditioner that runs both ways—cooling your house in summer and warming it in winter by reversing the refrigerant cycle.
In Phoenix-area homes, inverter-driven heat pumps like Bosch, Gree, and Daikin, are hugely popular. Heat pumps regularly move heat from outside to inside through refrigerant, compressor, and fans—no gas required. Inverter driven heat pumps do this much more efficiently and quieter than old-school single speed units.
That means you get efficient heating even when it’s chilly, with a system that quietly handles both heating and cooling throughout Mesa, Chandler, and Gilbert.
While it wasn’t always the case, nowadays (in moderate desert climates like Phoenix), heat pumps are often more cost-effective to run than gas furnaces.
Since they transfer heat rather than generate it by burning fuel like natural gas, or the high amount of electricity needed for electric resistance heat, heat pumps can deliver 1 to 4 times more heat energy per unit of electricity used.
While we don’t often see electric resistance heat (strip heating, aka an electric furnace) in the Phoenix area much nowadays – when we do, we usually recommend newer technology. Replacing electric resistance heat with a modern variable-speed heat pump in Mesa typically saves homeowners hundreds per year on heating costs.
Magic Touch Mechanical installs both. Far and away most valley homeowners are switching to heat pumps nowadays due in part to the large rebate incentives available from utility companies and bang-for-the-buck brands like Bosch and a few others offer in their more affordable variable speed heat pumps.
However, each home and homeowner has different needs and budgets, which plays a large role in which is best for your home.
Did you know you could have both gas and heat pump in one system? This is known as a hybrid system. Hybrid systems are a great solution for certain Phoenix homes since heat pumps offer year-round efficiency and comfort, but gas furnaces bring powerful performance during rare cold snaps.
When paired, they let your home switch to gas heat only when needed, giving you both efficiency and reliable warmth. We design systems around your unique Valley‑of‑the‑Sun needs—insulation, ductwork, local microclimate—giving you a heating solution that makes sense and saves money.
Furnace efficiency is measured by AFUE or Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency. 80% furnaces are by far the most common efficiency found in central Arizona homes, whereas in Northern AZ where the winters are much colder, 90%+ furnaces are in much higher demand.
An example of an 80% AFUE furnace is the Lennox SL280V which operates at around 80% AFUE, meaning 80% of gas becomes heat while the rest gets vented.
80% efficient furnaces can have different features that separate them from other 80% furnaces, so the AFUE isn’t the only thing to take into consideration.
For example: That model features two-stage heating and a variable-speed blower for quieter, more precise comfort.
In Phoenix’s mild winters, an upgraded 90%+ furnace delivers less ROI than investing in a high-efficiency AC, but high-performance units like the SL280V still offer superb, whisper-quiet heating in your Mesa or Chandler home. On the flip side of the coin, up in Northern AZ investing in a more efficient furnace is much more important than a efficiency air conditioner.
Furnaces tend to long outlive AC units. This is especially true in Gilbert, Chandler & Mesa where our furnaces see a fraction of the action our air conditioners do.
Unfortunately, that longer lifespan doesn’t benefit us much here in Phoenix. Furnaces are one component of a “matched system,” meaning the furnace, indoor coil, and outdoor AC unit are all pieces of a matched system. In other words, when it’s time to replace your AC unit, you’ll likely be replacing your furnace and indoor coil too as they were all designed to work together to get the SEER & EER ratings they were tested to produce.
A single-stage furnace runs at full capacity or not at all—think “on/off.” A two-stage furnace, like the Goodman GMVC80 or Lennox SL280V, has a low and high setting, adjusting output to maintain comfort more quietly and efficiently .
When you choose Magic Touch to install your gas furnace, your install includes optimized airflow and professional ductwork tuning so your system doesn’t short-cycle, cuts energy costs, and keeps comfort levels even in Gilbert or Ahwatukee evenings.
🪵 Gas & 🔌 Electric Fireplace FAQ
Yes—especially in Phoenix, Mesa, Chandler, and the East Valley.
During warmer months, turning off the pilot flame saves energy (it burns about 600–900 BTU/hour) and reduces background heat, which can work against your A/C. Sure, that amount of heat is nothing in a Scottsdale summer, but the more we can help our AC unit to run less the better for the unit and our wallets!
Plus, shutting it off minimizes wear on components. When fall rolls around, just relight before chilly evenings.
No, not all gas fireplaces need to be vented. It depends on type.
Direct‑vent gas fireplaces (sealed combustion) are vented through a side wall or roof and safely expel combustion by-products—ideal for modern Mesa or Scottsdale homes. Direct vent fireplaces use two vent pipes, one to bring in fresh combustion air and the other for exiting flue gases & by-products.
B-vent gas fireplaces often started life as a solid-fuel burning aka wood-burning fireplace. By adding a gas log set and burner they can be converted from wood to gas. Unlike direct vent fireplaces, B-vent fireplaces draw in combustion air from inside the room and only use one vent pipe to expel the gases and by-products.
Vent‑free or ventless models don’t require a chimney, but they release moisture and by-products into the room, so do require more frequent cleaning & maintenance than other types of fireplaces.
We help you choose the right option based on your home design, the aesthetic and features you want, and your budget.
Even though gas fireplaces produce no ash and very little if any soot, they still accumulate dust and dander—especially in dusty Arizona homes.
Cleaning should include very carefully wiping logs, vacuuming louvers and blower motors, cleaning any glass or doors, burners and ports, the firebox, damper and surrounding areas.
Use extreme caution when attempting to clean your own fireplace. Ceramic and similar logs are extremely fragile and break easily – replacements may not be available in you have an older fireplace and you can’t simply replace them with a log not designed to be used per the manufacturer. Incorrectly cleaning burners, not properly arranging logs the way they were designed to be, or accidentally damaging sensitive iignition systems can create unsafe operation.
Annual pro service is a smart safety step—not only do we clean all of this for you, we’re also checking for gas leaks, improper combustion, faulty or failing components and ensuring proper venting, ignition, and gas valve operation … to name a few.
No. Not all electric fireplaces have a heating function.
However, all of the fireplaces we carry and have on display in our fireplace showroom in downtown Mesa do provide heat.
There are many electric fireplaces available online that are poorly built, have a disappointing ‘flame picture’, and have low reliability scores – not having a heating function is a dead giveaway you’re looking at one of these low-level units.
Magic Touch recommends trusted brands like Napoleon, Modern Flames, and Dimplex electric fireplaces – all leaders in the electric fireplace market. These brands all make models with electric heating which can be turned off or even disabled on many models for those who prefer to rely on their homes central heating system.
Yes—but with realistic limits. Here in the Phoenix area – no problem! However, trying to heat a room in a Minnesota winter without relying on central heating is like a Tempe homeowner trying to cool a room waving an ice cube around in July!
Most units require a 120 V circuit and heat efficiently using fans, ceramic heaters, or infrared. They’re ideal for supplemental zone heating—living rooms, master suites, offices—covering roughly 400 sq ft.
Higher end models often can be hard-wired to a dedicated 240 V circuit and heat very large areas around 800 sq ft. In the East Valley, that’s perfect for cozy winter evenings without cranking up your central system – In Buffalo, NY – not so much!
Flame-only mode runs on LEDs and uses pennies an hour—great for ambiance after sunset in Phoenix homes.
Electric fireplaces in heating mode are surprisingly efficient too. Thats because nearly all the electricity being consumed converts to heat blown directly into the room and does not suffer loss through ductwork like our central heating systems.
On the maximum heat setting (about 1.5 kW), expect around $0.20–$0.30 per hour at current Arizona rates from SRP, APS, and City of Mesa electric providers—cheaper than gas or wood and way more convenient.
